Gardner narrowly defeats Lazarus in runoff, keeps seat as Horry County Council chair

HORRY COUNTY, S.C. (WMBF) – Johnny Gardner will remain the leader of the Horry County Council.

Unofficial results show that Gardner narrowly defeated Mark Lazarus with 51% of the vote, avoiding a recount.

It was an incredibly close race.

Gardner received 11,345 votes while Lazarus received 11,092, which is more than 1% of the total vote. If the difference between the two candidates was less than 1%, there would have been an automatic recount.

Gardner has served as the chair of the Horry County Council since 2018.

The Horry County Board of Elections will certify the results on Thursday, and then the South Carolina Election Commission will certify them on Friday.

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